I Want to grow old with you
by Tangela13
Summary: The year is 2029, Angela is 80 and Tony 78. They live in a retirement home together, and are both unwell. She has dementia, and Tony has cancer. Tony starts reminiscing about their life together, and starts worrying when Angela can't remember who he is. The family try to help her, but Tony takes matters into his own hands. But can he go through with it?
1. Chapter 1

The year is 2029, and Angela had turned 80, making Tony 78. They had both been living in a retirement home together for the past 10 years, as poor Angela couldn't do much anymore, having the devastating diagnosis of dementia, and Tony becoming worse each day with cancer. Anybody that knew them, knew that even in old age they were still thoroughly devoted to each other. They had a woman coming in every day to clean the house, but of course that was always hard for Tony to take, as he was meticulous in cleaning and double checked everything she did. The house at 3344 Oak Hills Drive had been sold to a newly wed couple not long after Tony and Angela moved into the home, but they soon found it wasn't big enough for them, so Jonathon had the idea of buying it.

Jonathon had taken over his mums company when she realised she could no longer run it efficiently, and with great remorse handed it over to her only son. She knew it would be in good hands, but of course with Angela being Angela, Jonathon had to pry the keys out of her unwilling hands. It helped of course, that Jon had won 10,000,000 dollars that year but Angela and Tony, told him to keep it for the house, and put the rest in the bank, that way he would be financially secure in the future, if he handled it right. He was given the number of Angela's financial advisor, and together they worked out a plan to invest his money in stocks and bonds, and what the house didn't use up, he Put in the bank.

Tony had also been upset to say goodbye to the past, as every great memory he shared with his family, had been shared in that house. From working for Angela, to them being "Best Friends", "Lovers", to eventually, "Spouses", and each others "Soul Mate". They had many a good time entertaining friends over their "Married Life", friends from work, as well as play. Mrs Rossini, often commented they would never be able to make it without each other or this house, as it was what they were "All About". It was more than the love they shared, it was what kept them going all the years they were together, including the "Kathleen Years", "Andy Years", and "Geoffrey and Frankie years", it had been "written in the Stars". The reason the other got up every morning, to face the world and to say "I dare you to knock me down today", I have my life mate, and we're living in our dream house, so do your worst, you won't hurt me".

Samantha had been married to Hank now for over 30 years, they had 4 kids, two sons and 2 daughters. The oldest boy was Tony junior, and the other was named Matthew, after Tony's dad.

The boys were the spitting image of Hank, dark hair with soulful eyes and both had great personalities.

The girls on the other hand, had Samantha's beautiful smile, petite, of course, with long dark hair, and could "Wrap grandpa Tony", around their llittle fingers, and most of the time they did.

The oldest girl's name was Marie, named of course after Sam's mother.

Tony Teared up, upon hearing the suggestion, and with Sam and Hank's permission suggested one if his own. When they all put it to Angela, that the second daughter should be named in her honour, they came up with the name "Anita".

They told her they wanted to thank her for all she had done for Sam and Tony, acting as a surrogate mum for most of Sam's life, and filling her father's empty heart with love and happiness.

There it was "Anita, Marie, Tony and Matthew, Thomopolous, the 4 grandchildren Tony had always wanted

And he couldn't Have been more prouder, for one had become a Doctor one a Lawyer, and the other two showed inclinations towards Advertising and Sports medicine.

When Sam and Hank had decided they were ready for kids, they both thought they would have trouble conceiving. Neither had come from very large families, and they had both been very tired from their separate jobs, to find any time together. Angela was the one to suggest they get away for a weekend at a little inn somewhere, and as a friend in Connecticut told them about this lady that owned one, they quickly took Angela up on her offer to watch their house, while they were away.

Angela was only too happy to do this , as she needed to work, and Tony as much as she loved him, often didn't understand her penchant for needing to, Especially on weekends.

To Angela, work was where you could get away from life's petty annoyances and she could immerse herself in another world. She could just be "Herself", and not have to live up to anyone's expectations of "Angela, the Housewife", or "Angela, the mother, Stepmother Daughter or Friend", everyone should "Feel sorry for ", because her "First husband", left her with their son to raise. She soon found the peace she was craving, and when Sam and Hank had returned from their time away, she felt alittle sad

Of course she missed Tony terribly, but he knew her well enough to know she would be more energised and happy, having "Recharged her Batteries", so to speak. Another good thing to come out of their "Time Away" was, when Sam went for her checkup, the doctor gave her the "Good News", that she was expecting.

After the first baby had been born, the other 3 came in quick succession, no one had doubted the Thomopolous gene anymore, all they had needed was time away to enjoy themselves, and some peace and quiet.

Tony had gotten worse over the last 2 years, but didn't want to go to hospital. He was afraid that if he was separated from Angela, she would spiral out of control, with her dementia. She had been having alot of Trouble lately remembering her family's names. She also kept thinking her mother Mona, was still alive, but sadly she had passed away in 2008, in the retirement home she was living in. Even to the end she had male admirers, who were fighting over her. In the middle of a game of "post office", she heard the men bickering over her, she must have got too excited, because when they stopped yelling at each other, they turned around and found her lying on the floor clutching her heart. She had a smile on her face and the 2 men told Angela and Tony her last words were "I still got it".

Tony decided to stop reminiscing about "old Memories", and went to check on Angela. She was still sleeping, it was 10.00am, so after Tony took his medication, he decided to join Angela in bed. After he got in next to her, he cuddled up into her, putting his hand in hers, and laying her head on his chest, drifting off into his "Sweet dreams of Angela".


	2. Chapter 2

It was a Saturday, on a lovely June morning. Marie had decided to visit her "pop", as she liked to call him. She had always felt close to "Tony", because as a little girl she always felt like the "Favourite". She knew he didn't mean to treat her that way, but after hearing the story of her pop and "Grandma Marie"s romance and life together, she felt very privileged to be named after her. Not that she had any less feelings for "Nana Angela," but blood always was thicker than water, and she knew her "mum", still missed her terribly.

Marie was on call this day, she worked at the local hospital, and gone all the way to becoming a fully qualified "Doctor". Tony used to have that dream for Samantha, but soon gave it up once she married "Hank". Marie worked in the oncology ward of the hospital, and sometimes had to work 24 hour shifts. She often thought it lucky she didn't have a spouse or children because sometimes she wouldn't even get home for 2 days.

This particular Saturday, she had arranged to meet Samantha, at the "home". They had both wanted to check up on Tony, as he was, as expected with someone who has cancer, feeling depressed. The fact that Angela was forgetting everyone's name, including His, made it that much worse for him. Never in a million years when they had first been married, did Tony ever dream their lives would be so full of incredible highs. But in being so happy, you must always pay a cost, and that's living with the inevitable lows. And that was his diagnosis of "Cancer", and his darling wife "Angela", slow progressing "Dementia".

Sam arrived at the home around the same time as Marie, and they met on the verandah. Sam always being the concerned protective mother, asked if she was eating properly and as Marie always said to her, she ate at the hospital. When they both entered the house after using the spare key given to them by Tony, they noticed a smell coming from the bedroom. They noticed Tony laying in bed with his arms wrapped around Angela, and she looked all dishevelled and small, lying next to him. There was a bottle of pills on a dresser next to the bed, that were open, but as Marie checked to see if any were missing, was relieved to find them all there. She thought they looked so sweet, age may have taken over their bodies, but their love they still had for one another outshone even the Stars. When she heard Tony stirring in bed, she knelt down and asked him if he was alright. He groggily replied he was, and turned to go back to sleep. Then it was SAMs turn to worry, as she knew her father never liked sleeping in too long, unless he had a good reason. Sam tried to nudge him awake, but when it was no use, she got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Looking at her daughter she wondered out loud, "Marie, what did those pills look like to you?, are they sleeping pills or something else, what did dad just take, we need to find out because I have a sick feeling about this. Your grandad hasn't been well as we all know and now neither he nor Angela are waking up, do something will You?, I'm getting really worried here!".

Marie checked Tony's pulse, listened to his heart, and when she was satisfied with the results, she checked on Angela. She followed the same procedure with Angela checking her pulse and heart, while trying not to wake her, she then decided on a course of action. After setting aside her medical bag she rang Tony's doctor and told him of her findings, she said how she found her pop lying in bed with his wife, and how there were some pills next to the bed opened, but not enough had been taken for real alarm, but as they were elderly and both suffering serious illnesses, she thought it better if they were hospitalised. For both their sakes.

Since neither one had stirred from their slumber, Sam said it was best to leave them there till Tonys doctor examined them. When Marie had got off the phone after her call, she decided she would make a cup of coffee for herself and Sam, when Sam suggested something stronger she laughed and told her mother that though she wasn't on call, she felt compelled to stay away from alcohol while tending to the "Grandparents"!

"You know mum, I don't think they were the pills from that bottle next to the bed that Pops took, I think he had another bottle hidden somewhere else. The one I found earlier was full, but he definitely took something and Nana Angela may have too. We may need to wake them up very soon for their own sake, I don't want to worry you, but with their age being what it is, and not knowing what they took, it would be very dangerous even fatal not to act now. While I look for the pills, you try waking them both up, and see if you can get any sense out of pops".

"Okay Marie, I trust your judgement. You start looking in the top drawer here, while I try waking up Dad and Angela. I just hope we can find out what's going on with these two, before it's too late to help them. I know it's gotta be a mistake, and he just mixed up the bottles. He'd never wanna leave Angela like this, she was always "Everything", to him. In fact I'm ashamed to admit this, but I sometimes got jealous of her, because I thought he loved her more than me. I know it's a horrid thing to say, but when we first came to live with Angela and her family, I was dad's number one girl, but it all changed when he started to have feelings for Angela. Then it was "Angela this, Angela that", and I started resenting her, plus she wasn't my mother, so that made it doubly hard when she told me what to do. Deep down I knew I was wrong to feel like that, but remember I was only a little girl then, and up to then it had been just dad and me. Of course later on I did come to love her like a mother, so I guess what I'm saying is, we need to be very vigilant taking care of them, because I'd never forgive myself if something happened to them and we could have stopped it. I know we can't cure cancer, or dementia, but if there's some way we can make them comfortable, while going through all the treatments needed, I would prefer to have them close by, and knowing they were getting the best care possible. To me that can only come from being in a hospital bed, not in this "Home", where the only "Home Care", is a "Housekeeper". If "Dad", was awake he'd agree with me"!.

Hearing his name mentioned Tony opened his eyes and called out.

"Angela!, Where are you?, Angela, where's Angela, Sam, Marie, what's going on, what are you doing here?. And Where the hell is my wife?.

Looking at each other in utter bewilderment, Sam said to Marie. "Why can't Dad see Angela?. She's lying right next to him there, isn't she?

Marie looked back at her mother then at Tony, and couldn't believe it, while they had been conversing about the "Grandparents", Angela had somehow slipped by them out of the room. Obviously with her dementia being as advanced as it was, time was of the essence in finding her. Tony got more agitated the longer they took in answering his questions, so they decided to go the safe route, and told him she had just gone to the bathroom while he was sleeping. When he was feeling abit calmer, Marie asked him if he had taken any pills lately, and if so what were they?. When he couldn't remember, and started panicking about his wife again, it was SAMs turn to calm him. She told him she would make him a cup of coffee, and how the doctor was on His way. He wanted to check on both "He", and "Angela", but if Tony wanted to see Angela, he needed to be calm when doing so, it would only make Angela upset to see him Upset.

"Okay Sam I'll do it your way, you make the coffee, while I try remembering the days events and what I took. But don't hold your breath, I have enough trouble remembering what I ate For breakfast, never mind what pills I'm taking".

"I know Dad, but this is very important to remember, and if you gave any to Angela, and it made her more disoriented than usual, we need to find out what they are and "Fast", do you understand"?. Once Sam handed him the coffee, Tony said to her.

"Yes Sam , I may be old, but I'm no dummy you know, Angela's memory loss is way worse than mine, mine is only from old age, hers is permanent, and it may come to pass that she doesn't recognise me one day. That's the day I don't want to be around anymore, when the wonderful life I shared with my best friend in the whole world is only remembered by me, and of course by you, but not by her , I just couldn't bear to watch her slowly but surely forget everything we built together, along with all the dreams we made come true for each other. I don't mean to make light of everything you and Hank have together, but if your marriage lasts as long as ours, and your half as happy as I have been with Angela, then I hope one day you will understand what I tried to do today, and you would agree with it, and not admonish it !. Now I know you and Marie are hiding the fact you don"t know where she is, so stop yakking to me and go look for her Please!, she may be in danger, and really frightened wherever she is, so let me call in some reinforcements, and you get the other grand kids, and together we'll scour the whole of Connecticut if we have too.!"

"Okay Dad, you got us!, Angela isn't here and we don't know where she is, but of course we'll help look for her. But just please promise me one thing?"

"If I can honey",

"The minute your feeling sick or dizzy, you'll go straight back to bed, the doctor is supposed to be coming to check you and Angela over, and won't take too kindly to you over stressing yourself!"

"Okay Sam, and thanks for caring, your a wonderful daughter".

"Dad you know I'll never stop caring, now you go make those phone Calls, to the neighbours is it? They all love Angela, at least we know they'll help"!

"Okay Sam, Marie, I'll see you both here in an hour, and we'll go over this street with a wide tooth comb, leaving no stones unturned. Well you get my drift. Okay ladies, let's move it, let's do it".!

And with a heavy heart and still feeling like something terrible has happened the Micelli and Thomopolous families, went there separate ways, determined for a happy outcome but preparing themselves for the worst,


End file.
